Trawl cear



July 12, 1932- .1. B. JQ A. vlGNERoN 1,867,196

TRAWL GEAR Filed June l2. 1931 Figi Patented `luly lf2, 1932 miren f 'SrArEs' PATENT fofrrcE f JEANBAPTISNE JOSEPH ALPnoNsN vrerNniaoN,` :orLA ROCHELLNFRANCE, AssIeNon` To vannnaimnn or LONDON, ENGLAND v N TRAWL GEAR j p Aptucatmn area nine 1a,"i931','seriai No. 543,840, and in France my 24, 1930.

N The present invention relatesto improvementsin or modifications` to 'ther trawling gears claimed in my prior[specificationv No.

i, 409,065 embodying a net with-out belly and -l; without the usual ground rope which is stretched across the line of travel.

The invention has chi-efly for its object:v

1.-To secure a direct traction upon the rear pocket by cables running from the shear `10 boards or from the boat, thereby relieving the upper or covering sheet of all stress;

2.-By eliminating the usual belly and ground rope, to prevent the consequent damage to such parts, the side edges of the net move lightly upon the sea-bottom after the manner of curtains, thus retaining the fish while allowing all detritus, stones, etc., to escape and nevertheless obviating the difflculties encountered in the construction of the trawl gears of the class referred to.

The essential feature of the invention consists in providing at the entrance of the rear pocket, either stretching slats, or small shear boards, or a rigid structure, or the likeand in connecting the latter with the usual stretching slats or other rigid members which are arranged at the ends of the net wings, b y means of one or more cables, parallel with the ground and of equal length, which cables serve as towing'members for the direct traction of the rear pocket, said single cable or the lower cable being so arranged as to operate at a certain distance above the ground, and having suspended therefrom a weighted curtain of net fabric whose width is equal to the distance of said single or lower cable above the ground (when fishing upon a smooth bottom), or exceeds said distance (when fishing on a rough ground). i

reference to their two attaching points that the gear will possess the maximum stability.

In this manner, the gear will operate as an ordinary trawl gear, except thatits lower edge, which is stretched by the traction, will operate above the ground in suchv manner that it will not catch upon obstacles and not collect detritus.

The curtain-like sheet of netting, which is weighted at its lower part, may be longer Said cables are obviously so located with than'the-cable to which itfis attached,in i

orderthat it may more readily conformV to the irregularities of the'groundJIt may'com` prise suitably spaced slots,'asf well as `break? able weaker parts which( are adapted to be tornv when an obstacle'is meti,'and"to thus afford' passage to said obstacles, whereby all serious damage to the net proper will be obviated.` y y Q ln the accompanying drawing, Figures Jbl' and 2`show two yembodiments of the'inven-V ion. v

In Figure l, the entrance of the rearpocket 1 is provided with stretching slats 2; the ends of the wings 3 are also providedwith stretching slats 4 which are connected by crow foot connections 5`6 with rdragging cables 7, connected withthe shearl boards or 'with theboat (not shown). vThe slats 2 4 are connected together by two'par'allel .side cables 8 9. The cable 8 connects together the two slats Vat the top thereof, and the cable 9 .connects together the ltwo slats at a certa-in distance above the ground, for instance one foot.

It will be observed in 'Figure 1 that the ends of the groundrope 10 of the rear pocket l are' attached to the lowerparts of the.

stretching. slats 2 of the rear pocket, and that the branches 5-'6' of the crow footof the dragging cable 7 areattachedrespectively to the top and bottom of the slats 4, as usual. Y

It will be readily understood that the proper equilibrium and stability of the netv are assured-inthe aforesaid device exactly as would occur in the known gears if the side cable 9f were attached to the bottom part of the stretching slats *and would operate asa ground rope. i 1

To prevent the escape of the fish, a band of netting'll, as above mentioned,is susp'ended from the side rope 9;.'this floatingV bandv retainsthe fish butvallows the' obstacles to pass.

invention, in Vwhich afsingle side rope `connects together the stretching slats, or the like,

' Figure 2 shows anotherembodiment of the f nections 14-15 Yand 16-17. Thecurtain 12 is suspended from thesingle side rope 13,

and t'operates as above indicated.

v The stretching slats located at the entrance of the rear pocket 2 andthe stretching slats locatedA at the ends of the net wings 4 may Y f be of any suitable'type and may be replaced by any other means adapted to afford the maximum stability of the wings 3,*such as sledge devices,-shoes, wooden or canvas shear panels, or the like@ 1 Y The rear pocketmay consist of a small net of a known type, such as a beam and irons trawl, ottertrawl net,- V. D. net, Danish Senne, etc. f Y The aforesaid embodiments of the invenftionare tnot of a limitative nature, and all modifications ofthe same'remain within'the will loffer the following important advantages: f

scope of the invention. Y

.lt will be readily vunderstoodfby the preceding description that the said apparatus 1.-The lower side edges of the net (lower cable 9 orside cable 13') will provide for the maximum stability of the net, and will not catch upon the bottom,` since they loperate above the ground. A

2.-,If the water rushes violently into the net,`the net is not liable to rise from the ground, as the lower side cable 9 or the singleV side cable 13 is quite stable and supports the n traction of the rear pocket, so that it will not be aected by the greater or less swelling of i the covering sheet. In this manner, the curtain 12 which is attached to said single or lower side cable cannot rise from the ground to a ,height exceeding therdistance .of the cable above the ground; it can thus only rise byv a few centimeters, and the fish will have but little chance of escape, aside from the fact 'that the lower part of the netalways operates more or less in a'region whichisclouded by mud. V .Y

B fAs thelower side edgesv of theV net are longer than the lower Yside cables to which they are attached, yandas the'slacl is uniformly distributed upon the Vwhole length ofthe sidecable,this entirely prevents the formation of pockets which tend to be-pro duced at the entrance of the rear pocket inV the prior trawling gears of the class referred to. 1 v

` Having now described my invention, what f VI vclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is Y 1. A trawl net embodying arear pocket, a Covering sheet, rigid membersl at the inlet of'said rearpock-et, further rigidvmembers atA they front corners of the vcovering sheet, `a traction cable attached to thecorresponding lower lateral edge of the covering sheet and tothe corresponding .rigid members at a materialY distance above the base thereof, where-` by,l saidV traction cables y are raised above the member, at a material distance aboveY the base thereof, whereby said traction cables are Vraised above the ground by said stretching slats and rigidv members, andweighted flexible curtain-like members'freely suspended fromvsaid traction cables.` A

In testimony whereof I have signedmyff name to this specification. Y

JEAN BAPTISTE ,JOSEPH 'ALPHONSE vlcNERoN.

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